Hikers spot danger signs and save man’s life in Cobble Hill

February 17th, 2019updated

WATCH A hike on a Cowichan mountain turned into a full-on rescue that saved a man's life thanks to the quick thinking of two friends who knew something wasn't right. Now the man who was rescued wants to share his thanks, and as Skye Ryan reports, share the incredible timing that is responsible for him being here.

Ian Rogers is certain he is alive because of two kind strangers, who wouldn’t take no for an answer and who trusted he needed help, fast.
“And it saved my life. No question about that,” said Rogers, who lives in Cobble Hill.
“Because I had a serious heart attack in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.”
It all happened on Cobble Hill Mountain when Rogers and his wife Elaine Scott set out on a hike on January 20th. Thirty minutes in, the 86-year-old started to feel tired.
He stopped to take a rest next to the trail, as his wife who walks faster kept going.
“Ian just thought he was dizzy and could walk down,” recalled Elaine Scott.
But friends Colleen O’Dell and Lori Rodall noticed him as they hiked by.
He said he was fine and just a little dizzy, but still they circled back and their concern mounted.

“Just walking past he just didn’t look right,” said Cobble Hill resident Colleen O’Dell.
“And a big part of my profession as a respiratory therapist is recognizing when things aren’t quite right.”
So she assessed him and called in an ambulance, while Rodall helped navigated the paramedics and crews from the Mill Bay Fire Department to the remote location.
In the very nick of time, since Ian Rogers had a heart attack just minutes after being strapped into the ambulance.
“If he hadn’t had the heart attack in the ambulance, with the team on board who worked on him right away he wouldn’t have made it I’m convinced,” said Scott.
“The right person at the right time who took charge and decided it wasn’t my time yet to go,” said Rogers.
“The timing was pretty out of this world,” agreed O’Dell.
Now home and recovering Rogers wants everyone to know how thankful he is to his rescuers for their quick actions. Now they are no longer strangers though but found friends after one very fateful hike in the forest.